I got a note from Curtis Buchanan the other day. Someone has hijacked some of his Windsor chair plans, and is offering them on the web. Here’s Curtis’ note:
“I have been made aware that my comb back plans are for sale on a wood working scam site.
http://chairplandiy.com/windsor-chair-plans/#
This fellow evidently just copies anything he can puts it all on a CD as “16,000” plans and sells them. Some of your stuff could be on there.
I’m not concerned that it will hurt my sales in anyway, his site is a mess. But since I think that all his material is stolen, he should be exposed for what he is. Spread the word if you feel the same way I do. I’m sure some of you already know of this fellow. There is a lot out there on him. If you want to see some of it, click on the link below.
www.woodworkweb.com/woodwork-topics/wood…scams-and-spams.html
Keep on the sunny side, Curtis”
Well, I have no plans anywhere, except on a napkin here & there. But I’m happy to post Curtis’ words and hopefully draw someone’s attention to this situation. Curtis’ plans as far as I know are only available from him, and well worth it. Here’s one post I wrote some time ago about his work. https://pfollansbee.wordpress.com/2014/03/19/go-see-curtis-stuff/
Tell your woodsie friends, so we can try to keep people from connecting with this charlatan.
PETER FOLLANSBEE: JOINER’S NOTES 
HA! I hadn’t followed Curtis’ link before, but just after I posted it, I clicked to see the site. And on there is my photo of Rose standing by one of Drew Langsner’s Welsh chairs! So I was hijacked!
Do try a DMCA takedown notice.
Contact Google and the other major search engines to knock the guy out of sight.
Also, embed your URL and contact info in any plan or art you post or publish in digital format.
Assume you are going to be pirated and consider those copies marketing for your legitimate work.
Oh, they steal from PW, FW, Wood, etc. too…so it’s only a matter of time before one of your A&Ms shows up there, Peter. Know that all the mags have been trying for years to end this, and while from time to time we’ve successfully had some items removed, it’s an uphill battle. But we’ll continue to fight it.
Are all of the magazines working in a coordinated effort on this, or is everyone trying to take him down by themselves? It seems like a coordinated effort would work best.
A coordinated effort, in large part thanks to Jim Barry at WoodworkersWorkshop in Novia Scotia.
Things like this need to stop! As long as we all fight the good fight hopefully one day it can go away!
It really hard to stop this but, if they are sending those prints through the U.S. Mail that’s mail fraud and you can report it and hopefully it can be stopped.
He’s a “too good to be true” con artist. I was almost duped once, but no more. I’m glad others are catching on. I copyright all my plans and send them to myself via postal mail. That does it if it ends up in court! Lousy thieves . . . glad you posted about him, Peter! I’m spreading the word too.
Mary
A lot of people think sending them to yourself in the mail equals a legal copyright. However that is an urban myth and it won’t stand up in court as a legal copyright.
Reblogged this on Rootertooterwren's Blog and commented:
This guy must be put out of our misery… He steals from the woodworking sites that pay for services …
He shows up on Facebook woodworking pages from time to time.
Same standard of english as those Nigerian scamsters, that’s warning enough for me.
Time to watermark your photos Peter?
I find this sort of thing rather disappointing as it erodes trust between strangers.
They are also all over YouTube like a rash, fake video headers that just lead to a website link.